Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Parody Musical Review: Big Songs, Bigger Butts and Absolutely No Restraint
★★★★★
Edinburgh Fringe 2026 seems to have two obsessions: princesses and Heated Rivalry. With three separate parodies of the latter competing for attention, it takes something special to stand out. Thankfully, Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Parody Musical arrives at Underbelly George Square armed with big songs, bigger butts and an almost pathological commitment to making everything as gay as humanly possible.
A confession first: I have never seen the television series. I know the references, I understand the basic premise and I attended with someone who is fully initiated into the world of Shane and Ilya. He loved it even more than I did. Somehow, despite my relative ignorance, I still had an enormous amount of fun. That may be the show’s smartest achievement. It rewards the devoted without entirely abandoning those of us simply along for the horny ride.
The true stars are the Susans, a collection of middle-aged, middle-American women united by their name and an almost frightening sexual investment in Heated Rivalry. Acting as narrators, commentators and increasingly unhinged representatives of the fandom, they are a wonderfully stupid comic device that gets funnier every time they appear. May Tether, as Main Susan, is sensational, able to move from respectable suburban housewife to deranged erotic mania with little more than a facial expression. Every glance feels like it could end in either a casserole or a restraining order. Andrew Berlin and Sylvie Stenson are equally game, joining the Susan collective while also bouncing through a whole host of other characters with impressive comic versatility. Between them, they make the world around Shane and Ilya feel increasingly ridiculous, populated by people who seem just as obsessed with their relationship as the audience is.
As Shane Hollander, Zheng Xi Yong is camper than Christmas and throws himself wholeheartedly into the parody’s heightened version of the character. There is a brilliantly committed demon-twunk-bottom energy to the performance, apparently far more faithful to the original than I initially realised. Opposite him, Joseph Dann’s Ilya Rozanov makes an excellent, dare I say it, straight man. His relative seriousness only makes every loaded stare, lingering touch and absurdly overwrought romantic encounter funnier. Yong and Dann play off one another wonderfully, with neither afraid to push the joke until it becomes completely ridiculous.
Musically, the production knows precisely what its audience has come for. There are knowing riffs on All the Things She Said, songs devoted to butts, repeated cries of “girl” that clearly carry enormous significance to people better educated in Heated Rivalry lore than me, and an endless stream of references that sent sections of the audience into near hysteria. Even when I had absolutely no idea what was being referenced, the commitment was infectious.
Crucially, the music is not treated as an afterthought. The cast belt these songs with unnecessary vocal power and complete sincerity, which only makes the stupidity funnier. The satire works because everyone performs as though this is the most important romantic drama ever committed to the stage.
It is saucy, shameless and extraordinarily camp. The camp becomes camper, the gay becomes gayer and any suggestion of restraint is abandoned somewhere around the first aggressively celebrated backside. The audience absolutely loses its mind, and by the end it is difficult not to be swept along with them.
I may still not fully understand Heated Rivalry, but after this I understand the obsession considerably better.
Five stars. Susan would demand nothing less.
Udderbelly George Square
Until 30th (except 17th)
1950-2100
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